Acceptable Suitcase Size

I'm in the middle of my March trip preparations & I'm looking into the suitcase situation. The Contiki book gives the specifications of the suitcase we can take as 73cmX50cmX25cm. How strict are they on this? If I have a case that it 3cm bigger will they disallow it? I don't want a disastrous start to the tour. Also how big can your carry-on luggage be? Thanks!

Normally they are pretty stringent andto be on the safe side, I wouldn’t take anything larger than that. Remember, these guys look at suitcases all the time and they’re probably pretty good at telling ones that are slightly bigger by now.

Having said that, I have seen people travel with expandable luggage and I’m sure this ends up much more than 3cm over the limit by the end of the trip.

Perhaps the best thing to do is contact Contiki here in Australia and check with them. Better safe than sorry, that’s for sure.

Carry on luggage is nothing like the size you can take on a plane. It is literally a day bag/backpack. That’s it.

Main suitcase: 20 kg limit is strictly enforced for tours departing from London. They have a digital industrial scale that knows what 20.1 kg is !!!! If you’re at the limit (although you shouldn’t be) put your heavy stuff in your day bag. Never seen a measuring tape anywhere … ever. As long as it doesn’t look like a grand piano case and sorta looks like all the other luggages around, you’ll have no probs.

Carry On: Consider that a plane’s carry-on allowance is cavernous compared to the space you have on a coach. Overhead on the coach is 1/3 the size on a plane and the space under the seat is very limited too.

Just because you have 20kg allowance, you should consider traveling as light as possible.